The Beginning
by magic bean
Summary: She didn’t know what it was that had suddenly made her feelings soften towards the blond. The very fact that he was her boyfriend’s nemesis should have been enough to ensure her hatred.


**The Beginning**

She didn't know what it was that had suddenly made her feelings soften towards the blond. The very fact that he was her boyfriend's nemesis should have been enough to ensure her hatred. After all, Draco still belonged to Voldemort no matter if a slight smile had started to make an appearance along with "Weaselette" when they passed in the corridors. A smile that, to Ginny, was becoming more dangerous the more dazzling she found it. She did admit that his mystery was part of the equation, never before had she seen him so closed off from the rest of his Slytherin cronies and she had to confess that she was intrigued. The Easter break though, had definitely helped with her infatuation. With the clean air of the grounds, her new relationship and the heavy revision schedule that Hermione had helped to draw up, her mind didn't have the time to focus on her changing feelings for the Malfoy heir. His noticeable absence over the holidays had also been a great advantage to her attempt at forgetfulness.

But when she saw him again on the first day of the new term, forgetting was not an option.

"Weaselette! Stop!"

She was climbing the stairs from the dungeons, hurrying to meet Harry for lunch, when she heard his cadent voice calling to her. She turned to find him stepping gracefully onto the step two down from her own, enabling her to look straight into his eyes. The stormy gray she found there astonished her with its wildness and vibrancy, pulling her deeper into them. The slight cough from Draco startled her back to reality and she shook her head to clear the trance those effervescent orbs had caused, hopping he had not noticed her stare. A blush tinted her freckle-dusted cheeks as she caught the slight twitch of his mouth, clearly restraining a smile. Of course he had noticed, Ginny thought, mentally slapping herself on the head. He coughed, didn't he?

"You dropped this," he stated, producing a quill from inside his cloak with a slightly pretentious flourish.

"Oh, I hadn't realised. Thank you." She reached out to take it from his grasp but instead ended up in his arms instead. Reeling in shock she pushed away but rather than righting herself she only managed to land on her bum. As she sat on the cold stones, she realised that in her daze she had managed to place her right foot in one of Hogwarts' notorious sinking steps as she had stepped forward to take the quill. She was well and truly stuck. Glancing up at Draco she saw his shoulders shaking with his contained laughter, and her trademark fiery temper roared, the flames fanned by her embarrassment over her blunder.

"Would you like some help?" The Slytherin asked, the smile clearly evident in his tone even though Ginny couldn't bring herself to look at his face.

"No, thank you!" She snapped, cheeks blazing. "I can manage just fine by myself." She tried to stand, gingerly extending her legs, her arms thrown out haphazardly for balance. Her foot suddenly sank further into the trick step, her efforts clearly in vain as she fell towards the stone floor once again. However, at the last minute an arm wound itself around her waist, pulling her upright against something slightly less damaging. At least, Ginny hoped Draco was less damaging.

Ginny looked up at her saviour, her hands reflexively finding his chest, and watched as the mirth in his eyes slowly morphed into slight confusion as he held her gaze. It was as though he couldn't quite understand what he was seeing. She felt his other hand on her waist, steadying Ginny further as he tilted his head to the side, examining her.

"Hold on," Draco said, almost in a whisper. Although confused at first Ginny soon got the gist as he started to pull her out of her temporary prison. She threw her arms around his neck, touching his bare skin for the first time and her eyes widened as what felt like electric shocks shot down her arms to the base of her spine where Draco's hand had brushed as her uniform had risen up under her robes. The shock in her eyes was reflected in Draco's as he set her down again on solid ground.

Time seemed frozen. Ginny new she should move and get to lunch but she couldn't force her limbs to budge. The paralysing effect of Draco's eyes seemed to be mirrored in her own, in fact his eyes only seemed to grow darker as she looked at them and his hold became marginally tighter as their gaze held. The electricity, both running through her and surrounding them, gathered like a storm in the air around them, seeming to simultaneously push and pull their faces closer together.

The tiny voice in Ginny's mind that was crying out "unfaithful!" was soon silenced by the fog of Draco's presence slowly capturing her brain and stifling all sense of reason. The very fact that she couldn't help but notice how soft yet strong Draco's lips looked, was a testament to how far removed she was from normal, rational thinking. How incredibly alluring Ginny found the strands of platinum-blond hair that fell rakishly over his left eye would have been absurd in the ordinary school life in which she encountered Draco. But here...now...with their eyes connecting through the electric filled air between them, the outside world was a dream. Her eyes closed and she could smell the sweetness of his breath as their faces came millimetres away from connecting, the scents of peppermint and pumpkin juice creating another toxic mist to add to the concoction that was continuing its invasion of her mind.

Their lips brushed with only the lightest of touches, but it was enough to create what Ginny could only describe as a whirlwind; she gasped as her breath was snatched away along with all semblance of hesitancy. The fog clouding her thoughts began to spin dizzyingly, surrounding the electricity that now seemed to explode, reaching each part of her body as every nerve seemed to burst with feeling. Her hands tightened around his neck as his arms pulled their bodies together, moulding them into one. Draco's gasp mirrored her own as the clouds of indefinable matter continued to circle around the pair, spinning faster as they leaned towards each other once again.

Suddenly the clouds were whisked away as Ginny heard a familiar voice call her name from what seemed impossibly far away. Harry. The illusion ruined and the fog clearing fast, Ginny quickly removed herself from the grasp of her boyfriend's enemy, not daring to meet Draco's eyes as she whispered a hurried thank you and ran to meet her lunch date, without a backward glance. If she had looked back she might have spotted the half-smile playing across the young man's lips as he twirled a twice-forgotten quill in his fingers. He would have to make sure to return it, he thought to himself, the quill was probably very important to the littlest Weasley.

He followed the path the red-head had taken towards the lunch hall as he mulled over the possibilities for their second meeting.


End file.
